Portable cot



2 Sheets-Sheet l Ihm. Y Nm. Mm

. Oct., 17, 1944. E. SULLIVAN ErAL PORTABLE coT Filed Aug. 19, 1942yPORTABLE COT Filed Aug. 19, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PW/fm@ Mx/Ws PatentedOct. 17, 1944 PORTABLE COT Edward Sullivan and Gerald S. Baker,Fostoria, Ohio Application August 19, 1942, Serial No. 455,372

2 Claims.

This invention relates to cots especially adapt ed for the handling ofsick or injured persons or the conveying of corpses.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a device of theabove stated character which will reduce to a minimum the amount ofeffort attendants will have to expend in the movement of persons eitherVinto or out of ambulances and similar vehicles and from place to placein hospitals and similar establishments or within dwellings and up anddown stairways, with maximum comfort assured to the person being moved.

With these and other-objects in View as will become more apparent as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction, combination and arrangement of parts which will behereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of our invention, reference is to be had tothe following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a side elevation illustrating a portable cot constructed inaccordance with our invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan View illustrating the device.

Figure 3 is a top plan View illustrating the carriage in operativeposition.

Figure 4 isa top plan view illustrating the carriage in a collapsed orfolded position.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional View illus- Atrating one of thetrack members and its connection to a leg of the portable carriage,taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating a head portion ofthe main frame in elevated or raised position.

Figure 8 is a perspective view illustrating one of the detachable clipsused for supporting an X-ray plate on the device.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates a mainframe of elongated formation and composed of sections 6 and 1. Thesections 6 and 'I have rounded ends and are preferably'constructed ofcylindrical stock. Rigidly connected to the section 6 of the main frameVare spaced parallel skids 8. The ends of the skids '8 are rig-idlyconnected by arcuately curved braces 9 and the section Ii is rigidlyconnected to one of the braces 9, as shown at IIJ. The other connectionsbetween the section 6 of the frame 5 and the skids are indicated b-y thecharacter I I. Also,

it will be seen that the ends of the section 6 are integrally connectedwith the skids 8, as shown at I2, and applied to the connected ends ofthe section 6 are detachable clips I3 including pivotally connectedsections I4 and I5.

The sections I5 are in the form of straps to encircle the section 6 ofthe frame 5 and have the ends connected by removable pivots I6 whichpivotally connect to the sections I5 the sections I4, the latter beingsocketed to receive `the ends of the section 'I ofthe frame 5. The endsof the section 'I of the frame 5 are fixed in the sections I4 in anywell known manner. This construction permits the section 'I to be raisedand lowered and forms the head portion of theframe 5.

Braces, I1 are pivoted to the side portions` of the section I of theframe 5 and have notches I8 to engage with a series of pins I9 securedon the skids 8 whereby the head section of the frame may be adjustedinto different elevated positions and when the braces I1 are disengagedfrom the pins, the said section I may' rest on the skids and one of thebraces 9 of said skids. Y Y Y In order to form the main frame 5 into abe structure, a sheet of material 20 is yieldably attached to thesection 'I of the frame 5 and to upper rails 29 of the skids 8 byaseries of coil springs 2|. The material20 may be of any desired fabrichaving sufiicient strength and durability to withstand the lWeight of aperson thereon and for use over long periods of time. The springs ZI areto provide a cushioning effect to the person resting upon the sheet ofmaterial and may be detachably secured to thev frame 5 so that the sheetof material can be removed and replaced by another when necessary.

A rigid hand grip 22 is formed on the end portion of the section 6 ofthe frame 5 and a hand strap 23 is secured to the end portion of thesection 'I of the frame 5. The hand grip 22 and strap 23 provideconvenient means for lifting the frame 5 and the person thereon. Whenthe strap 23 is not in use it may be arranged under a pillow used forthe support of a persons head and not shown. The hand grip 22 alsoprovides a foot restfor the person on the device.

Side hand rails 24 are detachably secured by Aclamps 25 tothe sides ofthe section 6 of the frame 5. The clamps 25 are sectional with thesections hingedtogether, as shown at 26, and further connected byremovable bolts 21 which hold the sections of the clamps together inoperative position on the frame 5 as well as detachably securing thehand rails to the clamps. The clamps 25 permit the hand rails 24 to beadjusted on the frame 5 and also to permit the hand rails to be swungdownwardly orv entirely removed, if desired, when placing a person on orremoving him from the bed structure.

The skids 8 include upper rails 29 having integrally connected therewithrunners 3l] provided with upwardly inclined end portions 3I. The runnersconstructed as specified will permit the frame 5 while carrying a personto be slid along a surface or over the nights of a stairway. Also,

the arrangement of the runners will permit a person to be taken down astairway in a horizontal position by allowing the inclined portions 3|at one end of the skids to slide over the ilights while the frame 5 issupported horizontally by an attendant.

A carriage 32 is provided for the support of the frame 5 when it isdesired toemploy the device for transporting a person so that theexpenditure of eiTort on the part of the attendant or attendants will bereduced to a minimum. The carriage is constructed to receive the runners30 of the skids by supporting the frame 5 in a horizontal position andapproximately at the height of an ordinary bed so that a person can besafely and easily transferred from the bed to the device or vice versa.

The carriage is detachable from the runners 30 of the skids so that whenit is desired to place the frame 5 in an ambulance or similar vehicle,the carriage can be easily detached from the skids and the latteremployed for sliding the patient into the ambulance and the constructionof the skids is such that they will be readily adaptable to the fixturesemployed in ambulances and similar vehicles for the support ofstretchers or the like.

The carriage 32 can be readily collapsed, as shown in Figure 4, when notin use so as to only occupy a minimum amount of space and consists ofsubstantially U-shaped members 33 arranged in pairs and formedintegrally with vertically arranged legs or posts 34 carrying at theirlower ends castors 35. A clamp 36 is employed for connecting theU-shaped members 33 in diverging pairs, as clearly shown in Figure 3,and which will permit the U-shaped members to be swung into parallelism,as shown in Figure 4, for collapsing the carriage.

The clamp 36 includes hingedly connected sections 31 provided withopenings through which extend the substantially U-shaped members 33. Thesections of the clamp 36 are secured to the U-shaped members 33 in anywell known manner. A fastener 38 is provided for releasably securing thesections 31 of the clamp against hinging movement. Therefore, it will beseen that it is only necessary to release the fastener 38 when it isdesired to move the U-shaped members in parallelism, as shown in Figure4, for collapsing the carriage. To hold the U-shaped members 33 inoperative position, as shown in Figure 3, braces 39 are pivotallyconnected to U-shaped members of each pair and detachably connected tothe other U-shaped members. When the braces 39 are not in use forholding the U-shaped members in operative position they may be swunginto parallelism with the U-shaped members to which they are pivoted andretained in the latter position by engaging pins 40.

Mounted for a limited rotary movement on the upper ends of the legs 34are channeled track members 4|. The limit of rotation of the trackmembers 4| is provided for by lugs 42 .thereon operating in notches 43provided in the legs. The track members 4I slidably receive the runners30 of the skids 8 and are equipped with removable pins 34 to overlie therunners 30 to prevent them from rising upwardly out of the channeledmembers during the use of the device. Also the pins 34 may act toprevent endwise movement of the runners 3U of the skids in the trackmembers by said pins contacting brace members of the skids, the bracemembers being indicated by the character 45.

When the carriage is in an operative position, the track members assumethe position as shown in Figure 3 so as to receive the runners of theskids. However, when the carriage is collapsed the track members may beswung to overlie the substantially U-shaped members.

Referring to Figure 8, a spring clamp 46 is shown and has connectedthereto a hook 41. A number of clamps 46 may be applied to the frame 5for the purpose of supporting thereunder an X-ray plate so that X-raypictures may be taken of a person resting on the device. The hooks 41 ofthe clamp may be easily and quickly applied to any portion of the frame5 and removed therefrom when desired.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings it will be seen that a very practical device has been providedfor the conveying of persons with comfort to the persons and with aminimum effort on the part of the attendant, and that the device may beused with the carriage at any time desired and that the carriage can beconveniently removed and collapsed when it is preferable to use thedevice on the skids 8.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of ourinvention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction,combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim is:

1. In a portable cot, a main frame including a foot section and a headsection each of U-shaped formation, means pivotally connecting the endsof the head section to the end portions of the foot section for raisingand lowering said head section, a pair of skid frames each including a.longitudinally extending upper frame member and a longitudinallyextending lower frame member having a central portion rigidly secured inspaced parallel relation to the upper frame member and end membersinclined upwardly from the central portion and rigidly connected to theupper frame member, means rigidly connecting the upper frame member ofthe skids to sides 0f the foot section, and adjustable braces connectingthe head Vsection to the skids.

2. In a portable cot, a main frame including a foot section and a headsection each of U-shaped formation, means pivotally connecting the endsof the head section to the end portions of the foot section for raisingand lowering said head section, a pair of skid frames each including alongitudinally extending upper frame member and a longitudinallyextending lower frame member having a central portion rigidly secured inspaced parallel relation to the upper frame member and end membersinclined upwardly from the central portion and rigidly connected to theupper frame member, means rigidly connecting the upper frame member ofthe skids to sides of the foot section, adjustable braces connecting thehead section to the skids, a pair of side rails, and clamping membersconnecting the side rails to the sides of the foot section.

EDWARD SULLIVAN. GERALD S. BAKER.

